www.kbwschool.net

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Introduction

The British Council connects people worldwide with learning opportunities and creative ideas from the UK and builds lasting relationships between the UK and other countries. We have three principal objectives or outcomes:

• Improved perceptions of the UK in other countries
• Greater mutual understanding between the UK and other countries
• Stronger ties between the UK and other countries

Education reform is a shared priority of the Middle East region and the UK, with an increasing emphasis on teaching students skills for work to tackle youth unemployment, creative approaches to learning, educational quality and leadership, teacher development and the education of girls and disadvantaged groups. The UK has world class experience of education reform and building lasting relationships between education institutions.

With offices in all eight countries of the Arabian Gulf, the British Council is ideally placed to support multilateral relationships across the region.

Aims of the project

The connected classrooms project is a regional project entirely funded by the British Council. The project is expected to last for at least three years. connected classrooms involves education policy makers, practitioners and pupils in the UK, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. The principal aims of the project are:

• to enhance international awareness and understanding between these groups in the UK and across the region in order to break down stereotypes and negative perceptions.
• to support education professionals throughout the Gulf in their efforts to reform their education systems to meet the rapidly changing needs of young people as they prepare to enter university or the work place.

Outcomes of the project

• Over three years, 600 schools, 200 from the UK and 400 from the Middle East region will be involved in the project
• A network of approximately 750 policy influencers, school leaders and teachers who have met their overseas counterparts and developed a commitment to working in partnership with them and the institutions they represent
• A pupil community of approximately 400, 000 which enjoys greater connection with peers overseas and develops an informed perception of their culture and aspirations
• Wider community perceptions are positively influenced by messages relayed by educators and students.


UK-Middle East School Partnerships

This strand of the project aims to help pupils aged 11-14 from the UK and the Middle East to develop informed and positive perceptions of each other’s cultures through the creation of partnerships between schools. Each school partnership will involve three schools (one UK and two Middle East schools – one boys’ and one girls’ from the same locality). The focus of the partnership will be on the design and implementation of projects that can be worked on in classrooms in each school that support the existing school curriculum. These projects are known as ‘joint curriculum projects.’

Working with schools overseas is an excellent way to motivate pupils and can be professionally and personally rewarding for both staff and the wider school community. Sharing expertise and experience with colleagues from other countries and cultures exposes teachers to alternative models of teaching and provides an opportunity to reflect upon different practices.

The British Council provides funding over a three-year period for:

• briefing events for project participants to explain the aims of the project and assist schools in their preparations for school partner-finding events ‘school partnership seminars’
• ‘school partnership seminars’ which are partner-finding events for schools (four seminars will be held in different locations each year across the region to which teachers from the UK, the host-country and at least one other country from the Middle East region are invited)
• materials and communication aids to support the development of collaborative curriculum-based projects for two years
• teachers and students to visit their partner schools

Detailed Project Plans for School Partnerships

Joint Curriculum Projects

The purpose of the School Partnerships Strand is for UK and Middle East schools to develop long term partnerships that focus on classroom-based activities that are jointly designed by all three participating schools. A ‘joint curriculum project’ is a programme of activity that is agreed between the three schools belonging to the school partnership (one UK school, one boys’ school and one girls’ school from the Middle East country). Project activities should support the existing curriculum in each school and should therefore be based in the classroom, during normal school hours. Project activities should involve a number of different subject areas so that the project becomes embedded in the life of the school. This means that many pupils can be involved and also means that the success of the partnership does not depend entirely on the enthusiasm of the teacher who is nominated to attend the pre-briefing or contact seminar.

The idea is that through working on the same activities pupils and teachers in both countries will benefit from fresh perspectives and insights into each other’s culture. Schools involved in a joint curriculum project should be equal partners and projects should be guided by the principle that each school has something to contribute and each school has something to learn.

School Partnership Finding Seminars:

An excellent way to initiate school partnerships and to work out the details of a joint curriculum projects is at a partnership finding seminar. Schools from the UK, the host country and at least one other country in the Middle East region are brought together for face to face meetings over the course of three days. The seminars are run by British Council staff from the UK and across the region who guide teachers about forming school partnerships and planning joint curriculum projects. The seminar consists of a formal and informal sessions which are designed to enable each pair of Middle East schools to find an appropriate UK partner to work with on a project in their schools and to draw up project plans together. Sessions will typically include:

• a partner fair – an informal ice-breaking activity where each school sets up a stand displaying materials about the school and the local area which is visited by the other schools represented at the seminar
• formal presentations on topics such as how to design a successful joint curriculum project and key features of the UK education system
• structured brainstorming activities to collect and share ideas for joint curriculum projects
• opportunities for informal discussion between potential partners and networking with teachers from all participating countries
• cultural activities which provide insights into the lifestyle and culture of the host country